Like A Boat
by Mono Virus
Summary: To say that it's scary and confusing to be reborn into a world of magic is the understatement of the year. OC - Self insert.


**Like A Boat**

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**A/N:** Inspired by _Silver Queen_'s _Dreaming of Sunshine_ (10/10 would recommend).

**Summary:** To say that it's scary and confusing to be reborn into a world of magic is the understatement of the year. OC - Self insert.

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**Prologue**

**Out of Body Experience**

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My name is Daphne Dursley, and I have a story for you.

This story is quite different. You see, it started with the end.

To be honest, I didn't know what to expect when I died the first time. Like, would there be a tunnel in which you'll find light at the end? Would someone in a black hood and a scythe be waiting for you to escort you to the afterlife? And what even is afterlife?

I don't know.

Look, all I know was that I was dead. Why did I say that I died? Well, I saw myself dead, for one. And trust me, the sight of your own unconscious body- mangled and broken and bloody—is totally not a good sight to look at. It was more than terrifying that I can't put it in words. But I won't delve with the details of it. This is not a story about that, after all. That was the end.

What happened next was that I was cocooned in darkness.

It was a bit cramped, to be honest, but not so suffocating that it's uncomfortable. In fact, I'd choose that tight, cramped little place over a spacious one, because you'll never know what's hiding in the vast, infinite darkness. It was cramped, yes, but I feel safe. I was content, I was happy. And I figured that this isn't a bad place to hang at.

This was my own paradise, I never went hungry or thirsty or anything, I was lulled by unrecognizable hums of ease. And I thought, if this is what being dead feels like, then, I don't mind.

However, the universe is a cruel being who likes to prove us wrong. The time I spent inside my happy little place had come to an end. My comforting cocoon of safety was wrecked by the intruding sensation of being gripped and dragged out by… someone.

It was accompanied by pain and terror and pressure…

What was going on? Was I really dead or alive? Where am I?

I don't know.

It was scary and confusing. I mean, yes, I could hear them, and I wasn't blinded, but everything around me were garbled nonsense and blurry whatevers. My fear multiplied, as if it wasn't on an all-time high already, when I realized I could neither move nor scream. My limbs were limp jelly, and I could only release a hoarse, wordless sound.

Was I wrong about being dead? Was all of it a product of a coma that I came out of? Had I suffered brain damage? These questions gave terrifying answers, but they were probable answers, nonetheless. I was in the darkness for God knows how long. Maybe it just took some time for my eyes to adjust.

But like I said, the universe likes proving me wrong, and nothing could have prepared me for what occurred next.

I had been of average height and of average weight. I was sure of that. But I was lifted like I weighted nothing. The panic and fear that was simmering inside of me poured out in a shrill cry. Never mind that I couldn't speak. It was the only thing I could do to resist against… against whatever that was. I didn't know what was happening, but it seemed like I was being held in the crook of someone's arm.

Had I been abducted by giant aliens, after all? It was all bizzaro crap, seriously. How could I be held like a baby? Unless… unless I was a baby? I didn't know what to think at that time, but it was damn acceptable than alien abduction.

Well, it turned out that yes; I was turned into a baby. So what happened and why?

I'd like to say I was reincarnated. Mind you, that's a tentative guesstimate. The memories from _Before_ was so vivid that I'm not thoroughly convinced I just imagined them. And I mean come on, compared to the giant alien abduction theory, being reincarnated was far more believable. If you were good in a previous life, you step up the karmic ladder. If you were an asshole, then it's the down, down, down for you.

But to be reincarnated in this life and in this time? I don't know if it's a step up from the ladder.

Wanna know why? Well, I was reincarnated in a place that was only supposed to exist within the bounds of fiction and fantasy. Specifically, I am in the Harry Potter universe.

Crazy, I know. Fill the papers and join the club.

I didn't know how I could remember the things that happened _Before_, or how I was reincarnated. But maybe a Deity with a wicked sense of humour was bored; millennia after millennia of being immortal, of being the same, cosmic entity, that he/she/it decided that it was fun to play with the life of a mere mortal.

Well, that or I was too stupid to die.

So, on the 23rd of June in the year 1980, twins Daphne and Dudley were born to Mr and Mrs Vernon and Petunia Dursley of number four ,Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey.

And this is where our story begins.

It's already established that I was a baby again, and well, what a difficult baby I was. I mean, technically I'm a teenager, but to be stuck as a baby again is very, very weird and it made me cranky. It was part being irritated that I am a Dursley (Dudley's twin too!), and part I cannot do any _freaking_ thing. The simple things I used to do, like speaking and walking, was more than missed when I was a doll in all ways but being actually alive.

Also, I wasn't used to the cold climate of Surrey, England. And I was deemed a sickly baby.

So I cried. All the time. This worried my new parents. To be honest, I'm a bit uncomfortable with the Dursley's being my parents. I mean, they weren't _my_ parents. Needless to say, I was biased, but with good reason, about not liking Vernon and Petunia. They didn't treat Harry the way they should have, but on the other hand they spoiled Dudley and I, even as babies. It was so easy to hate them, really, seeing as they weren't the parents I remember. But they were the only people who were patient with my constant, needless, petty vendetta crying.

As time passed, it started to get a bit hard hating them, until it was gradually lessened to irritation. I still don't like them very much, so while my tantrums became quieter, they never really stopped. Meanwhile, Dudley was a rather sweet-tempered baby. Just feed him lots and he's okay.

Aside from that, though, there was something in me that was never there before. And it wasn't till later that I knew it was magic. It's really hard to explain what magic is, but at that time, I didn't know what it was, only that it gave me discomfort and annoyed me to no end. But I had magic, and that was that.

To my relief, my eyesight returned when I was about three… four months old. And with hard work, I was able to walk again when I was six months. Before our first birthday, I can speak simple words. I was trapped in the limitations of this body, but it was fine. There was progress, after all. There was no language problem, because even though English wasn't my mother tongue in the life _Before_, I was rather fluent in it.

Still, I was a bit in denial about the whole reincarnation thing. But when I was a year and several months old, ithappened. Voldemort was gone, but so were Harry's parents. I woke up one morning to the commotion downstairs and I went into the kitchen, feigning innocence about what happened and what is happening.

I saw the confusion and anger in Vernon's (_Dad's?_) face, while Petunia (_Mum?_) was crying. I never read that letter from Dumbledore, but I guess it mentioned that Lily and James (_Aunt Lily and Uncle James?_) were dead. Also, that was the first and last act I saw that Petunia really cared about Lily.

"I owe her this, Vernon." Petunia said, her face was read and wet with tears. Vernon said nothing and only gave a curt nod in response.

I slipped into the living room and searched for something that indicated Harry's presence. There was a sudden motion in the sofa, and I ran as fast as my little legs can carry me.

My heart was pounding.

Wrapped in bundles of blankets, there he was. A green-eyed baby was waving his stubby baby fingers at me.

I was speechless. And when I saw the scar, there was no more denying it.

I am indeed in the Harry Potter universe.

_Shit._

**_.._**


End file.
